Mumbai: The Sion police have arrested a school bus driver for allegedly sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl and booked the principal for sitting on the parents’ complaint for more than 20 days.
The 30-year-old bus driver was arrested under the stringent sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act while a notice for arrest was issued to the principal.
According to the police, the girl, studying in an English-medium school in central Mumbai, last month complained to her parents that the school bus driver had been sexually exploiting her over the past several months while ferrying her to and from school. The matter came to light after the girld showed her reluctance to attend school.
Sion police said that, as per the complaint, the accused driver used to touch the victim inappropriately. The exploitation began in Aug but the girl told her parents about it in February. The parents immediately approached the school principal and informed him about the girl’s ordeal. “The school principal did not act for several days, after which the parents approached the police and lodged the complaint. We took the parents’ complaint under Pocso and arrested the bus driver. The principal was also booked for not acting upon the complaint,” said a polcie officer.
The accused driver faces charges under Section 75 (1) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4, 8, and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
